Yates prepares for biggest game of his young career

Rookie T.J. Yates is starting the biggest game of his brief career Saturday against Cincinnati. He’s under a lot of pressure not to make mistakes that cost them the game. He’s trying to keep things in perspective.

“I’ve tried to keep everything the same just like a normal week just so you don’t get out of whack at all and start thinking about outside stuff,” Yates said. “It’s a very special thing for this organization and this team. It’s definitely some different circumstances for me to be in this situation as far as the two guys in front of me getting hurt.”

Yates is playing with a separated left shoulder that hasn’t given him a problem in practice this week.

“I’m trying to take full advantage of the situation and try to do whatever I can to go out and help this team get the playoff victory,” Yates said.

Playing with emotion is key

Coach Gary Kubiak has kept a close eye on his team this week, and he likes what he sees as far as them being focused on beating the Bengals.

“Our guys are usually at their best when they’re really emotional,” Kubiak said. “Our guys play with emotion.

“We’re making sure we’re on the same page mentally with some of the key things that could happen in the game. They’ve been pretty good about it all year.”

Defense grows into a success

In Wade Phillips’ first season, the defense has improved from 30th to second. Coach Gary Kubiak was asked what surprised him the most about Phillips’ first season.

“I think the biggest thing is that we’ve been able to grow all year,” Kubiak said. “Wade and the staff, without the offseason (because of lockout), with the new defense, we could have came in and overloaded them mentally.

“We started very basic. We played very basic for probably about the first two or three weeks. We continued to grow. I thought their (defensive coaches) patience with the growth of the defense, not overloading the guys, was probably the key to our continued success.